What is Oliver Queen without Team Arrow?

Arrow has become increasingly self-aware at the end of each season. At some point you really have to acknowledge the fact that epic, citywide disasters keep unfolding every May. At the same time, there’s an obnoxious quality to Arrow’s habit of poking fun at its own tropes even as it keeps revisiting them. That’s why the endgame of Season 5 is so refreshing. There’s no doomsday weapon threatening the complete destruction of Star City this time. This is a very personal conflict between two bitter rivals. And their respective armies, of course.

Things started out innocently enough this week, as Team Arrow celebrated what they thought was the earlier-than-expected defeat of Adrian Chase and Ollie birthday. But even if we hadn’t seen Chase kidnap Ollie’s son William a couple weeks back, there would still have been a strong sense of foreboding permeating these early scenes. Chase went down way too easily, and Ollie knew it.

There was just enough build-up to Chase’s latest sneak attack to make the payoff that much more satisfying. Few of the developments in this episode were truly surprising (especially with The CW’s habit of spoiling every casting announcement and character return ahead of time), but this episode really succeeded in stacking the deck against Ollie and making his situation feel all the more dire leading into the finale. Ollie has been adamant that his true strength comes from his friends and allies. Now that Chase has systematically dismantled Team Arrow, Ollie feels more lost and adrift than ever.

Stephen Amell has really been on fire for the past several months. Ollie has been put through psychological hell in both the past and present, and Amell has consistently risen to the challenge. This episode easily ranks among the best of the season in terms of Amell’s performances. It was great watching Ollie’s fear and desperation slowly grow throughout the evening, finally exploding into a crescendo as Ollie realized that even his son had been drawn into Chase’s web.

Naturally, it was another strong week for Josh Segarra, as well. He’s oozing more danger and oily menace than ever as he revels in what looks to be his final victory over Oliver Queen. There’s a sense that whatever shred of sanity Chase clung to while he maintained his cover is rapidly evaporating. And while the “bigger is better” mentality doesn’t work for all Arrow-verse villains, that’s not really a problem for Segarra. He can be as twisted and over-the-top as he wants and Chase remains a compelling villain.

It was really an “all hands on deck” situation tonight, as so many characters from seasons past were brought into the fold - Laurel, Merlyn, Yao Fei, Nyssa and even Slade Wilson himself. All of these guest appearances helped the show feel as though it’s coming full circle leading into the finale. Arrow may not be ending once Ollie’s five-year flashback saga is over, but it’s clear the writers are trying to tie up all loose ends. Fittingly, this phase of Ollie’s life will end on Lian Yu, just as his globetrotting journey did five years ago.

I’ll admit to being wary of Black Siren’s continued presence on the series. The writers need to be doing more to make use of their current Black Canary, and I don’t entirely trust them not to eliminate Dinah in favor of putting Laurel back in the spotlight. But her presence in this episode wound up paying off handsomely. In the present, there was plenty of great drama to be mined from Quentin seeing his daughter in the flesh, twisted and warped as this Laurel is. And in the past, we got a great little scene where Laurel emerged as the one voice of reason in Ollie’s drug-induced meltdown. It felt appropriate that she was the one to pull him back from the brink and help him overcome the drug’s effects. This show has never entirely done right by the Green Arrow/Black Canary romance that exists in the comics, but every so often it gets it right.

Merlyn’s return also paid off handsomely. It’s not as if John Barrowman has been out of the Arrow-verse spotlight this past year, but there is a thrill in seeing him back in Star City and reluctantly teamed with Ollie again. It was especially fun seeing them waging a two-man war on Ollie’s own SWAT officers. This episode was geared more towards suspense than action, but that scene was a notable exception.

But with all the great character drama and memorable moments in this episode, I have to admit that no scene thrilled me more than the very last one. It’s been far too long since Slade Wilson has entered Oliver Queen’s life. And while The CW already spoiled that Slade would be playing a part in the finale, it sounded like they were going to be relying on a stunt double with Manu Bennett’s voice dubbed over. So it was quite the pleasant surprise to see Bennett in the flesh here. I’m very much looking forward to seeing the Ollie/Slade dynamic play out next week. It’s nice to feel such excitement for an Arrow season finale again.

The Verdict

Arrow followed The Flash's example this week, delivering a lead-in to the season finale that's crammed with great character drama and big reveals. The show is rapidly coming full circle as Ollie confronts the many people he's lost over the years and finds himself drawn back to Lian Yu one more time. And with everyone from Black Siren to the al Ghul sisters to Deathstroke himself back in the picture, the finale is shaping up to be a defining episode for the series.